Head First Web Design (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jeff Siarto (Author)
Key Phrases: travel notes, orphaned cards, moderator script, Red Lantern, Head First, Foo Bar (more...)

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Product Description

Want to know how to make your pages look beautiful, communicate your message effectively, guide visitors through your website with ease, and get everything approved by the accessibility and usability police at the same time? Head First Web Design is your ticket to mastering all of these complex topics, and understanding what's really going on in the world of web design. Whether you're building a personal blog or a corporate website, there's a lot more to web design than div's and CSS selectors, but what do you really need to know? With this book, you'll learn the secrets of designing effective, user-friendly sites, from customer requirements to hand-drawn storyboards all the way to finished HTML and CSS creations that offer an unforgettable online presence. Your time is way too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First Web Design uses a visually rich format specifically designed to take advantage of the way your brain really works.

About the Author

Ethan Watrall is a professor at Michigan State University where, among other things, he teaches user centered design, interactive design, interactive storytelling, game design, and game studies. He has also written several books on web and interactive design. His digital alter ego can be found at http://www.captainprimate.com

Jeff Siarto is a Web and User Experience designer living in Chicago. He is the founder of Siarto Labs, a small design company and co-founder of Loudpixel, a consultancy specializing in web development and online learning. Jeff was a student of the standards-based web design movement and writes articles and tutorials aimed at helping new web designers get started in the craft.

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Product Details Paperback: 495 pages Publisher: O'Reilly Media (January 2, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 0596520301 ISBN-13: 978-0596520304 Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8 x 1.2 inches Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,003 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
travel notes, orphaned cards, moderator script, tetradic scheme, tetradic color scheme, top level navigation, wcag priority, google story, using web standards, triadic color scheme, secondary navigation, triadic scheme, rating medium, consectetuer adipiscing elit, designing color, building web pages, ipsum dolor sit amet, orange kitten, card sort, css file

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Red Lantern, Head First, Foo Bar, Golden Ratio, Internet Explorer, Tactical Studies Rules, Avalon Hill, Online Survey, Trilobite Labs, Featured Books, College of New Media, Heading Two, Mackinac State University, Heading One, Music Store, Donkey Kong, Jane Subject, Heading Level, The Google Story, Windows Vista, Brian Blume, English Civil War, Gary Gygax, View Detail, Wizards of the Coast

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	60% buy the item featured on this page: Head First Web Design 4.4 out of 5 stars (12) $31.49
	24% buy Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML 4.6 out of 5 stars (291) $26.39
	6% buy Creating a Web Site: The Missing Manual 4.6 out of 5 stars (36) $19.79
	6% buy Head First PHP & MySQL 4.2 out of 5 stars (25) $29.69

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:  (4) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.4 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 19 of 19 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - but watch the typos, April 7, 2009 By  M. Duffield (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    As a member of its target audience, I found this to be a tremendous book. It's perfect for web developers who know (X)HTML and CSS but are clueless when it comes to the design process itself. The only thing to beware of is the large number of errors that should have been caught in the editing process. I do a decent amount of PHP/MySQL and Javascript/AJAX work, so I have to already know how HTML & CSS operate. I don't need to be told what a div element is, or what a style declaration looks like. I am the least creative person on the planet, though, and this book feels like it was written specifically for me. I can't think of higher praise than that. It takes you through the process of building a site - not just what a good webpage looks like, but how a whole site is structured and fits together and ways to make that come alive through design. I never felt confused, but never felt like the authors were moving too slowly, either. This is my third book by Head First (I also have the HTML and AJAX books), so I already knew that I liked the Head First writing style - perhaps a little light on technical side, but the lessons get driven home. The reader simply retains material from these books, and that is tough to find in most technical books on the market. Again, the only thing to watch out for is the sloppy editing; there were a few too many editing errors for my taste. I still gave the book five stars, though, because it was just that good. 14 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Finally A Web Design Book For The Entire Process, February 13, 2009 By  Ira Laefsky "Ira Laefsky" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)       Head First Web Design is a invaluable tool in planning and building web sites and follows the excellent pedagogical principles of other books in the Head First series. It is also unique in teaching the entire life cycle of building a usable, information-rich, beautiful, navigable, and accessible web site, and not being confined to illustrating the graphical layout of beautiful web pages. It illustrates, the sketching, information design, navigation, and customer interaction issues involved in developing a sophisticated, content-filled web site and prepares the developer to perform a well-managed design and implementation process. The guide does assume that the prospective web designer have familiarity with HTML, XHTML, and CSS, but that is an entirely reasonable assumption for any web designer and is well served by the HTML/XHTML volume in the Head First Series. This is an excellent and most necessary book for the design of sophisticated information architectures, and usable beautiful web sites that serve both the user and the organization that commissioned them. --Ira Laefsky 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A solid addition to an already strong series of books, April 20, 2009 By  S. Wichmann (Saginaw, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Don't let the cover deter you... there's a wealth of knowledge beneath it. As a somewhat practiced web-developer, I found this book to be quite a fresh and at times rather humorous approach to a subject many of us tend to marginalize in our work: the design process. From devising color schemes to navigation and content hierarchies, the book covers a lot ground and contains some pretty good exercises (though none too technical) for both novice and experienced web designers/developers. Naturally, it does a great job of illustrating how implementing good design practices in your work will translate into (and improve) your coding. I particularly found the chapter on Accessibility to be rather useful, as it is another thing a lot of us tend to forget about when creating websites...On that count, I am guilty as charged.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for beginners, but not for a complete novice Pros: Easy read. Helpful methodologies. Good references. I have to admit that I found the format of this book interesting. Read more Published 25 days ago by A. Sattar 4.0 out of 5 stars Simplified and Intuitive If you want a simple aproach to design web sites, especially if you are a developer, this book is for you. Published 2 months ago by JHON MARREROS GUZMAN 2.0 out of 5 stars A confusing look at web design This book is not for beginners or even those with a decent background in web design and HTML/CSS. The Head First series appears to be a web design version of "Idiot's Guide" or... Read more Published 5 months ago by Sacramento Book Review 4.0 out of 5 stars Good Web Design Principles Overall this book gave good advice. It was centered in design principles you'll have in a systems design course and adopts many of the same principles that are in design books... Read more Published 5 months ago by konscept 4.0 out of 5 stars Head First Web Design Product arrived overseas in under two weeks. Excellent condition. I really enjoy these books and would by other titles in this series from this seller. Read more Published 5 months ago by M. Star 5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful tribute to web design basics Is it possible to learn real web design from a book format? HEAD FIRST WEB DESIGN is the key to designing user-friendly sites, from customer requirements to hand-drawn storyboards... Read more Published 7 months ago by Midwest Book Review 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book. Easy to understand; full of hands on explanations and practices. You will love it. Would suggest to anyone. Published 7 months ago by Mehmet A. Akgun 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent way to learn web design The book delivers on all its promises, does a great job of teaching web design and is a whole lot of fun in the process. Published 8 months ago by S. Schmitt 5.0 out of 5 stars Brain-friendly Web Design 101 Head First brought us another a masterpiece in the usual brain-friendly way. After studying this book you'll 'master' pre-production, information architecture, navigation, color,... Read more Published 9 months ago by Franco Arda Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 495 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (January 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596520301
• ISBN-13: 978-0596520304
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,003 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - but watch the typos, April 7, 2009

By	M. Duffield (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a member of its target audience, I found this to be a tremendous book. It's perfect for web developers who know (X)HTML and CSS but are clueless when it comes to the design process itself. The only thing to beware of is the large number of errors that should have been caught in the editing process.

I do a decent amount of PHP/MySQL and Javascript/AJAX work, so I have to already know how HTML & CSS operate. I don't need to be told what a div element is, or what a style declaration looks like. I am the least creative person on the planet, though, and this book feels like it was written specifically for me. I can't think of higher praise than that. It takes you through the process of building a site - not just what a good webpage looks like, but how a whole site is structured and fits together and ways to make that come alive through design. I never felt confused, but never felt like the authors were moving too slowly, either.

This is my third book by Head First (I also have the HTML and AJAX books), so I already knew that I liked the Head First writing style - perhaps a little light on technical side, but the lessons get driven home. The reader simply retains material from these books, and that is tough to find in most technical books on the market.

Again, the only thing to watch out for is the sloppy editing; there were a few too many editing errors for my taste. I still gave the book five stars, though, because it was just that good.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally A Web Design Book For The Entire Process, February 13, 2009

By	Ira Laefsky "Ira Laefsky" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Head First Web Design is a invaluable tool in planning and building web sites and follows the excellent pedagogical principles of other books
in the Head First series. It is also unique in teaching the entire life cycle of building a usable, information-rich, beautiful, navigable, and accessible web site, and not being confined to illustrating the graphical layout of beautiful web pages. It illustrates, the sketching, information design, navigation, and customer interaction issues involved in developing a sophisticated, content-filled web site and prepares the developer to perform a well-managed design and implementation process. The guide does assume that the prospective web designer have familiarity with HTML, XHTML, and CSS, but that is an entirely reasonable assumption for any web designer and is well served by the HTML/XHTML volume in the Head First Series. This is an excellent and most necessary book for the design of sophisticated information architectures, and usable beautiful web sites that serve both the user and the organization that commissioned them.
--Ira Laefsky

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A solid addition to an already strong series of books, April 20, 2009

By	S. Wichmann (Saginaw, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Don't let the cover deter you... there's a wealth of knowledge beneath it. As a somewhat practiced web-developer, I found this book to be quite a fresh and at times rather humorous approach to a subject many of us tend to marginalize in our work: the design process. From devising color schemes to navigation and content hierarchies, the book covers a lot ground and contains some pretty good exercises (though none too technical) for both novice and experienced web designers/developers. Naturally, it does a great job of illustrating how implementing good design practices in your work will translate into (and improve) your coding. I particularly found the chapter on Accessibility to be rather useful, as it is another thing a lot of us tend to forget about when creating websites...On that count, I am guilty as charged.